ElfYourself Refuses to Die, as OfficeMax Introduces ElfYourself Live Seventh year for holiday appBy Tim Nudd

November 21, 2012, 9:52 AM EST

There may be a few remote humans left in isolated areas of the Amazon who have not yet "elfed" themselves. Everyone else has. Yet OfficeMax's ElfYourself holiday app, introduced in 2006, refuses to go away—and in fact is coming up with new ways to digitally "elf" people for the side-splitting amusement of their moms. This year, any mothers who use YouNow.com, which is some sort of live video software, may be surprised—yet thrilled—when their cheeky offspring suddenly get "elfed" during a video broadcast. That's because OfficeMax is debuting ElfYourself Live on the platform. But there's more. In mid-December, the first ElfYourself mobile application will launch for Apple devices to "help holiday revelers create, share and view ElfYourself eGreetings on-the-go." You can create and share a holiday eGreeting at no charge through the app, "with the option to purchase additional dances for 99 cents each." The move toward anytime, anywhere elfing follows six years of increasing world domination. OfficeMax runs down the numbers: "Since ElfYourself debuted in 2006, people in all 196 countries across the seven continents have used the popular holiday website to create more than 470 million customized videos. Consumers have spent the equivalent of 7,124 years on ElfYourself.com during the 2006 to 2011 holiday seasons. To join in the holiday fun, please visit ElfYourself.com."

AdFreak is a daily blog of the best and worst of creativity in advertising, media, marketing and design. Follow us as we celebrate (and skewer) the latest, greatest, quirkiest and freakiest commercials, promos, trailers, posters, billboards, logos and package designs around. Edited by Adweek's Tim Nudd.

There may be a few remote humans left in isolated areas of the Amazon who have not yet "elfed" themselves. Everyone else has. Yet OfficeMax's ElfYourself holiday app, introduced in 2006, refuses to go away—and in fact is coming up with new ways to digitally "elf" people for the side-splitting amusement of their moms. This year, any mothers who use YouNow.com, which is some sort of live video software, may be surprised—yet thrilled—when their cheeky offspring suddenly get "elfed" during a video broadcast. That's because OfficeMax is debuting ElfYourself Live on the platform. But there's more. In mid-December, the first ElfYourself mobile application will launch for Apple devices to "help holiday revelers create, share and view ElfYourself eGreetings on-the-go." You can create and share a holiday eGreeting at no charge through the app, "with the option to purchase additional dances for 99 cents each." The move toward anytime, anywhere elfing follows six years of increasing world domination. OfficeMax runs down the numbers: "Since ElfYourself debuted in 2006, people in all 196 countries across the seven continents have used the popular holiday website to create more than 470 million customized videos. Consumers have spent the equivalent of 7,124 years on ElfYourself.com during the 2006 to 2011 holiday seasons. To join in the holiday fun, please visit ElfYourself.com."